1. Field:
This invention is concerned with ski boots and bindings for cross-country skiing and with the combination of same as installed on cross-country skis.
2. State of the Art:
Cross-country skiing has become a sport in itself apart from so-called "downhill" skiing, in which expertise at executing slalom-like turns divides experts from intermediate and beginner skiers, and apart from jumping, which is primarily for exhibition.
Regardless of lack of skill, or the extent of skill a person has developed in other aspects of skiing, cross-country skiing has almost universal appeal. It provides exercise in climbing to higher elevations, from where descent can be selected in accordance with desires of the individual, or in touring up and down hills or along the flat for outdoor enjoyment.
Since cross-country skiing is not dependent upon the usual ski lifts and requires considerable manual effort on the part of the skier, special cross-country skis of lightweight and special bindings have been developed. The skis are much narrower than the usual downhill skis, and the bindings provide minimum, if any, capability for release when the skier falls. Also, ordinary hiking boots are normally worn, rather than the very stiff and confining downhill ski boots.
Typical of bindings specially provided for cross-country skiing are those shown in Hilding, Kreyenbuhl, and Weigi U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,003,777; 4,108,467; and 4,266,805, respectively. All of these provide for attachment of the toe of a ski boot forwardly of the sole on an axis extending transversely of the ski. Weigl provides for pivotal movement, about such axis, of a part of the binding constituting a forward extension of the sole of the ski boot, so the length of the ski boot may be pivotally raised and lowered about the axis serving as a transverse line of pivot.
In accordance with the present invention, the sole of the ski boot terminates short of the tip of the toe of the ski boot upper, and a pivot axis, constituting a transverse line of pivot for the toe of the ski boot, is provided immediately behind such tip of the toe. This provides stability for the skier in advancing the ski forwardly during walking and climbing.
Although Beyl U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,409 provides a ski boot having a sole of a predetermined standard length, despite boot size, with toe and heel overhanging the respective ends of the sole, there is no pivoting of the boot relative to the ski. This shortening of the sole relative to the upper is provided merely as a matter of convenience in enabling any size boot to fit a predetermined setting of the toe and heel boot-securement pieces of the ski binding.